Of 28 injured in NASCAR crash, 7 remained hospitalized Sunday

February 24, 2013|By Ludmilla Lelis, Orlando Sentinel

DAYTONA BEACH – Seven people remained in the hospital Sunday for injuries sustained during a multicar accident that sent debris careening into the grandstands at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night.

A total of 28 people were injured during the last lap of the Nationwide Series race, based on numbers released by the speedway and local hospitals.

Meanwhile, Speedway crews overnight rebuilt the 22-foot-tall fence in front of the grandstand where sections of a driver Kyle Larson's race car broke through, adding and reinforcing new sections of chain link. Track and NASCAR officials said they are still reviewing the accident to determine if there are any changes necessary to improve safety.

"If there are things that we can incorporate into the future, whether it's the current property now or any other redevelopment, we will," Speedway President Joie Chitwood said.

Chitwood said 14 people were treated at the track's care center, while local hospitals in Daytona Beach and Port Orange treated a total of 14 others for injuries from the crash.

Injured fans received assistance from the Speedway after being released from the hospital, including a few who were taken back to Orlando, Chitwood said.

Fan injuries remained on the mind of several NASCAR drivers, including Mark Martin, who placed third in the Daytona 500. After the race, Martin said he had a "sick feeling" knowing that fans had been injured the day before. Race champion Jimmie Johnson also made note of the injured fans during his Victory Lane celebration.

On Sunday morning, scores of fans attending the race took photos of the reconstructed fence.

Mary and Richard Scott, visiting from Long Beach, Miss., had been sitting in the stands, but far from wreckage from Kyle Larson's car, which broke apart during the crash.

"It was scary watching him, knowing the debris was flying up, but they have protections in place and you hoped they would work," said Mary Scott. "The fire and smoke, never saw anything like it," he said.

About 10 feet from the rebuilt fence, Jerry and Dory Clark of Silver Springs took their seats on the front row. The Clarks watched the wreckage from their home TV, and Dory panicked for a moment about attending the race on Sunday. Their friends and family contacted them, worried they had been hurt.

But they sat in their seats, looking forward to the Daytona 500 and tried not to worry about another accident.

Michael and Susan LaPointe of Palm Coast also sat in their front row seat, not worried about the potential for danger. "We know the catch fence works, mostly," Michael LaPointe said. "It will probably never happen again."

DeWayne Foy of Wilmington, N.C., watched the debris fly into the stands from his seat about 100 feet away. "It was so fast. You didn't think about what was happening," said Foy, who saw a tire sail above the fence, while the motor and other sections of the damaged race car sailed through a massive hole created by the crash.

Foy returned to the track Sunday but didn't worry about sitting in the stands. "The fence stopped the worst of it, so the fence did its job," he said.

Donnie and Susan Jones of Tampa are Daytona 500 regulars and were at Saturday's race in lower seats of the upper section

When the crash occurred, a fan in front of them was hit by small piece of metal that looked like a bullet but, according to another fan, a mechanic, was part of a racecar hood latch.

"It's pretty eerie," said Donnie Jones, 55. "You don't realize that you are vulnerable until something like that happens." Still, "I think we are fairly safe," he said.